Persona - Mirror Image AU (Discontinued)
by FuyuSeishin12
Summary: It features a different concept and completely different characters. This story revolves around the concept of, "which is the real me?" or "Why am I different?" With mirrors being the entrance to a new shadow world for the characters to try and destroy the facades built by their peers. DISCONTINUED; may remake someday, sorry. If I do, I will replace the chapters here.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

Fuyu: Please note that Taisha is a real place that was absorbed into Izumo which is in the Shimane Prefecture. The version I'm portraying, however is fictional. As I said in the description this whole thing is non-cannon and all characters portrayed and any events are a complete work of fiction.

**Chapter 1: Arrival**

Look in the mirror, what do you see? Is it you? Or is it some facade imposed upon you by your 'friends' or 'family'?

**[June 6th 2014 On ****JR San'in ****Train line bound for Taisha. 6:14 AM]**

A question I ask myself as I always did long ago while on the train to my old home town, Taisha, a growing town nearby Izumo. Gazing out the window, I watch the world speed by while pondering such things. Getting bored of thinking about that subject, I grab a book from my back to read as I eventually fell asleep. As I slept I find myself in a strange dream finding myself in a room full of mirrors. Each mirror is different in image instead of seeing my own reflection. The memory of such escapes me when I wake up to the conductor heralding arrival at my stop. Grabbing my rolling luggage bag and sticking my book back into my backpack, I got off at the station.

**[Taisha Train station. 6:28 AM]**

After exiting the station, I find myself welcomed by a seemingly familiar-looking energetic girl. Her dark hair is short and a little messy but long enough for a small ponytail. Her skin is slightly tanned and her eyes are olive green. Her outfit is just a simple white blouse, a pair of shorts and a pair of hightop sneakers.

"Oh! You're here," She said as she ran up to me, "You probably don't remember me since it's been so long. I'm your cousin, Naika Odagari, we'll be going to the same school."

"It's been a while," I say to her, "You've changed quite a lot."

"You do remember," She says joyfully, "But, yeah I think I have changed but to some people here, there's no difference."

"How so," I ask her.

"Eh...They say I'm still very overprotective and... kind of a delinquent," She says with some hesitation.

"Delinquent," I say, "Why?"

"Remember when I still started fights with people who picked on you for your dark red hair," She asks as I nod, she dyed her hair my color in support during that time, "Well I still kinda do fight but not as often," She sighs, "I guess my rep is not as good as it was long ago."

"Well aren't you going to do something about it," I ask her.

"I don't think it's healthy to go against their thoughts about me," Naika says, "Besides It would take a bit of a while to try to convince them I'm not that, anymore."

'I guess that part of her didn't change,' I think to myself and I say out loud, "So, where to? Your appartment?"

"Yep," She says, "I just visited my parents' graves so I could just go straight there now."

"I just got news of that," I say, "I'm sorry I missed their funeral."

**[Taisha City streets 6:35 AM]**

"It's alright, Cousin," She says with a smile as we walk over to her apartment. Along the way, we heard some housewives gossiping.

One with short hair said to her friend, "How, did you hear? There have been strange things happening."

"What is it now," Her friend asked her, "Something about the local shrine again?"

"No! There's news of kids disappearing," The woman said, "No one knows what happened but the families of such kids say they've last seen their kids in front of a mirror."

"Really!? How does that even happen," The friend says completely in shock.

"My son has been mentioning a certain 'ritual' but I don't know the details," The short haired woman said.

As we were out of earshot Naika looks at me as she says, "There's a little ritual I've heard the freshmen talk about. Apparently you need a large mirror like a bathroom or vanity mirror. It's supposed to be midnight and you have to say a certain phrase and you must stare into your reflection's eyes. They say that the ritual is done when you see your image distort and change into an outer version of yourself. I think it's like self-examination or something. Apparently, some students came up missing but others say they feel the presence or 'see' empty versions of said students."

"That's preposterous," I say, "It's probably that they've come out with Apathy or something and got lost." We then quickly switched to casual small talk as we walked.

**[Makado Apartment complex 6:44 AM]**

"This has been happening for some time now," Naika argued as we approached the apartment's doors, "I swear there's something strange happening in town," As we walked in she turns to me, "I'll take your bags to your room, you could relax here and call me when your boxes arrive."

"Okay," I say as I hand her my carry on luggage. As she walked away, everything suddenly turned dark saturating the world in monochrome and a tall, curvy woman with long white hair in a ponytail, large golden eyes and wearing a blue sort of flight attendant uniform appears.

"Hello," the strange woman said with a smile, "I see you've finally arrived, pleased to meet you."

"Um, hello," I say to her as she proffers a clipboard with a sort of contract on it.

"Please sign this, before you continue," She says removing the plastic front, "Upon signing this, you'll be taking full responsibility for your actions, henceforth."

As a pen appeared in my hand, I just signed it without question, Last name: Kaindo, First name: Enba. The pen disappeared after I finished signing.

"No turning back now, for you have quite a situation coming," The woman said, "I'll be seeing you again soon." She disappears and the world around me turned to normal. Shaking that off, I decide to take a seat in one of the lobby benches as the mover knocked on the door.

"Oh," I say as I decide to go and tell my cousin, "The stuff is here. What's my room number?"

"It's floor 2 room 02 next to mine," She says back as I tell the movers where the luggage goes. In a few minutes my boxes are at my door.

"Not really much, huh," She comments.

"Yeah," I say, "Dad didn't get me much. Mostly school supplies a few changes of clothes, some cheap appliances and some personal things I got from you and from Mom before she died."

"I see, I guess your father really wants you out of the house," She says grimly but her mood does a 180 as she says, "Well, anyways, let's unpack."

"By the way," I say before she opened my door, "something weird happened-"

"No need to talk about it," Naika cuts me off, "Keep it to yourself." She fishes out a keycard from her pocket and places it against the door's sensor and unlocks it, "There you go. Welcome to your new home for the foreseeable future."

**[2nd Floor Room 1]**

"Okay," I say as she hands me the keycard and helps me with carrying the boxes inside. The apartment is spacious compared to others I've seen. An equipped kitchen, bathroom, toilet, small bedroom and a living room. The flooring is of traditional tatami and wood flooring in some areas. The currently bare walls are just drywall that's been painted beige. There's a low table in the living room with cushions surrounding it with a flatscreen TV connected to a DVR under it. The bedroom has a smaller TV, a bed with a nightstand next to it and a desk off to the side in front of the window. In front of me past the kitchen is a sliding glass door that leads out to a balcony and clothesline. To my right, is just a generic shoe rack with a sort of log sheet on top of it. So, this will be my home for a while. I guess I should get used to this as well as meet some of the neighbors.

We then spent the afternoon unpacking boxes and putting stuff where they should be. We had various kitchen appliances like a toaster and a blender going to the kitchen as it was lacking in those. Then we put some basic bathroom appliances like hairdryer and straightener. The clothes were hung in the closet, which included my school uniform from my old highschool in Tokyo. After that, we hung family pictures and a few posters on the walls to decorate them. With that business done, Naika heads out after offering to help when needed since she's next door.

I'm now alone in my apartment and it's almost 7 PM. So I just changed into some simple nightwear, tshirt and shorts, and called it a night...

**[?]**

I hear a voice and called into a blue door. Once through, I find myself sitting at in a sort of luxury plane. The place is covered or painted in blue velvet. Outside is darkness outside the windows. There are seats lining the sides with one side being cut off mid row by a drink cabinet. Accross from me sits an old, balding, skinny man wearing a suit with a long, impish nose leering at me with wide eyes over steepled skinny fingers supported by his elbows over a table. Next to him sits that same woman I saw at the lobby.

The old man spoke to me, his voice raspy yet clear yet a little creepy, "Welcome."


	2. Chapter 2: Velvet and Mirrors

**Chapter 2: Velvet and Mirrors**

**[Private Jet?]**

Huh? I was asleep but now I'm here... That stopped me, where IS here? The thin man's voice broke my thoughts, "Do not be alarmed, you are still sound asleep in your bed."

"O-okay..." I say to him as I calm down in my chair.

"It's been a long time since we've had a guest here," The man says, "And you have a rather unique fate." He gestures to himself, "My name is Igor, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Before I ask him about where exactly am I at, he spoke for me as though reading my mind.

"This is a place between dream and reality," He began, "Mind and matter. It is a place where only those who are bound by a _contract _may enter and through this, they have to abide by it." In front of him appeared the contract I signed and he continued, "Upon signing the contract, hencefourth, you must take full responsibility of your actions."

Thinking for a bit weather I ask any questions, I simply say, "I see."

"Ah, I almost forgot to introduce my assistant," He says and gestures to the woman next to him, "This is Isabella, she's a resident here like myself."

"Nice to meet you," Isabella says bowing her head.

"Now," Igor says, "Hold on to this." A key appears and floats down into my lap and I take it as he continues, "The next time you arrive it will be of your own free will, until we meet again..." My vision fades to black as I feel my eyelids being hammered by sunlight.

**[June 7th, My Room 7:30 AM]**

Sitting up, I yawn feeling strange about the dream. Nevertheless, I have to go to school. I grab my new uniform and quickly put it on. Grabbing some breakfast, I hear a knock on my door. I walked over to answer it to see Naika in a similar school uniform beaming at me. "Mornin' cousin! Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," I say pushing the dream out of my head for now as I continue, "Is it time to head for school?"

"Not yet," She says with a quick shake of the head, "We're still half an hour early so I came to see how you're doing, thankfully we're close to school."

"What's the school's name, again," I ask as I let her in to join me for breakfast.

"Sakakuta academy," She says, "It's pretty big, you have probably seen it from the train station."

I recall the huge, pearly white structure I seen reminds me of when I visited Gekkoukan High years ago with my dad on a business thing, "Oh, that building what kind of school is it?"

"It houses classes from grade school to Freshman College," Naika says as we eat, "It's pretty huge, but in reality, it's a bunch of sections connected by monorails, lifts and catwalks."

"That's it," I ask as I finish up my breakfast.

"Pretty much," She says, "All separate buildings have a student principal but it's centered around a head principal. For some reason, he won't show his face, odd... anyways, now that you're done eating, let's head out."

I simply nod and pick up my bag and follow Naika out the door.

**[Sakakuta Academy 7:50 AM]**

We had to take a ride on the city bus, which wasn't too bad as the stop put us very close to our school. Walking the rest of the way, seeing the school up close was quite imposing, the monorails make it look like it's all held in place by rings. The three buildings are large as well and spaced pretty far apart in a neat circle, which adds to the need for monorails. Naika explained that the railways are nice and fast but it's recommended to walk or take the lifts unless you have free time to go to wherever you want since due to their circular arrangement on the outside of the buildings, it all depends on where you are.

**[School Courtyard 7:52 AM] **

I note that in my head as we head to the high school/freshman college building marked A3. In front of it is a large board covered in what I assume to be class assignments confirmed by the many students crowding around to take a look. Various students are despairing or celebrating as they found the classes they are in. Among the crowd a hand raised and waved at us the owner of the hand called, "Hey! Nai-chan! We re in the same class!"

"Really?" Naika called back, "Awesome! Come over here, I want you to meet someone!"

"Is it a new boyfriend," The friend called sounding suspicious.

"No way," Naika called back, "Just come over here!"

Among the crowd, there was some bustle and pushing as a guy comes out of the crowd dusting off his uniform. His hair is layered and almost perfectly down save for some strands as he walks up to us.

"Before you say anything, Saa-kun," Naika says gesturing to me, "Lemme introduce her. This is my cousin, Enba Kaindo, from my Ma's side."

The boy looked at me as though sizing me up and he eventually says, "So, this is her? You've been talking about her a lot. I found your name on a note in our class," 'Saa-kun' extended his hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm Saika Aisano."

I decide to shake his proffered hand and say, "Nice to meet you too."

"Pretty and polite," Saika says and says to Naika, "You should learn from your cousin, Nai-chan."

"Shut up," She says curtly turning towards the front doors, "Let's go in, then."

"Same old, Naika," Saika says as he turns to me, "Was she always like this when you two were kids?"

"Absolutely," I say as we follow Naika into the , "So how did you two become friends?"

"I had just got out of Judo when I saw her getting in a fight with a group of jerks during junior high," Saika began, "I basically helped beat them up and we've been friends since then."

I feel a weird grin on my face as I ask, "Do you _like_ her?"

"What do you mean by that," Saika says keeping up a stony defense, "I like her as a friend but that's it."

We just left it at that as we walk down the pristine halls catching up with my cousin. Along the walls were the occasional cork boards covered in announcements and club advertisements. Even when so far advanced, we are still using these.

**[Second Year Floor 8:00 AM]**

We walk into a class marked 2-C which had plenty of students talking it up as they waited for their teacher. We walked in and took our seats. I sit behind Naika who's in the 3rd row closest to the front right next to the window. Saika happens to find a seat across from me to my right as we waited and traded some small talk about those mysteries. As the teacher walked in, everyone fell silent and sat properly. She seemed clumsy in her words, "S-sorry I'm late, kids."

"Oh boy," Saika whispers, "we got Ms. Namao."

By his tone of voice, I could tell he seems to like this teacher. As quiet whispers went around as she nervously got her things organized. When she was finished, she cleared her throat as she began with a gentle smile, "W-well, welcome t-to your first day of classes, everyone. For those who don't know me, I'm Ms. Namao, I teach w-world history."

The way she stumbled over her words almost made me feel sorry for her as she then proceeded to her first lecture. Clumsy at first, she was able to teach her lecture despite the difficulty, I felt like I retained some gone info. By the time class went for lunch break, we hurried to the food stand to quickly grab some pastries and sandwiches. Heading back, to class we began hearing of rumors of that mirror ritual I heard the other day. "They're still talking about that," Saika asks just before he took a bite of yakisoba bread.

"Seems so," Naika says, "En-chan has just learned about it."

"Are you gonna try it," Saika says to me, "I've heard things like this have caused people to disapear."

"It's probably superstition," I say, "I'll prove it to you."

"Eh? Really," Saika asks, "I was gonna try it as well."

"Well..." Naika says, "I got nothin' better to do so why not? I have a big ol' vanity mirror in my room so why not we try it tonight?"

"Alright," Saika says with an anticipating grin, "We'll all meet at the apartment, wait until midnight and recite the ritual." We all agreed as the next class begins. The next class was complete algebra a bit of a bore but I managed to stay awake as I feel much smarter.

**[Courtyard Afterschool 2:03 PM]**

The classes soon went by as the three of us headed to the apartments together as we agreed to do. I personally began to feel strange glances towards us and asked, "Um... are any of you two popular?"

"Being the next Judo captain is quite something," Saika says with a wry smile as he points to his face, "especially with this face. It kinda hurts to reject so many girls," He then leans in to whisper, "She hasn't been admitted it but Nai-chan seems pretty jealous whenever a girl tries to ask me out."

I raise an eyebrow at this information as I say, "Really? Hmmm...What did people think of her back then...?"

Saika seems hesitant for a bit but says, "I-I'd rather not say...But all I could say that people tend to avoid her a lot now."

I look over at Naika who's far ahead of us so we simply ran to catch up with her.

**[Apartment complex, 2:57 PM]**

The ride itself was filled by small talk . The ride felt quicker than this morning despite the streets teeming with activity from other students leaving. Upon arrival, we headed straight up the steps to Naika's room. Lo and behold, the mirror is there almost eerily. Its apparent old age made it seem creepier. "W-well," Saika says hesitantly, "Who's gonna start?"

"I'll go," I say as I feel braver, "It's just a simple ritual, right?"

**[Naika's room 11:59 PM]**

We waited until a few minutes before midnight, filling the time with small talk and a light dinner to calm our nerves. During that time, I find myself glancing at the mirror a few times as though I could almost see someone or something beckoning me. A digital clock on Naika's nightstand shows it's almost time so we walked to the mirror. I was standing in front of it and take a breath and I began the ritual by first placing one hand on the mirror. Saika told me before this so I remember. "This image is not me," I recite, "Come hither, my true self. Break down the facade I see."

We waited a few moments and we thought it was nothing and then... "Thou art I for I am thou," A voice calls as a hand reached out and grabbed my wrist which is attached to the hand I placed against the mirror and began pulling me into the mirror! Even stranger is that I'm actually sinking in...! Both Saika and Naika grabbed me but it was futile as we were both sucked in with me!


	3. Chapter 3: Inside the Mirror

Fuyu(Author): Just gotten back into watching persona stuff and finally began to continue this. While I'm sure you're aware this has no connection to any Persona game in existence right now, it follows similar concepts so please font complain.

**Chapter 3: Inside the Mirror**

**[Unknown place, Time unknown]**

I was the first to hit the floor as I was the first to fall in. stumbled for a bit and then quickly righted myself. After I righted myself, however, Saika and Naika fell right on top of each other. I ended up almost snickering from their lack of grace as they both stood up. "You're so heavy," Naika exclaimed but stopped as she saw the surroundings. Even Saika was just as mystified as I when looking at this strange place. We're standing on a platform of some sort it was strange enough but even stranger was how it looks faintly like a complete mirror image of the Saika's living room. The light we have is just plain white but from where it's coming from is beyond me. Beyond the platform is blackness but above us and zooming around us is all sorts of images and words in a complete mess.

"Wh-Where the hell are we," Saika says as he rubs his eyes as though trying to wake up from a dream.

"This can't be real," Naika says as well, "Also, look at this place. It looks like my room."

"Shh!" I hushed them as I see something moving amongst the furniture, "What's that?"

Both Naika and Saika followed my gaze to see a strange figure. Even in the light it was hard to see what it was. Saika jumped in front of both of us as he took a stance, "Come out whatever you are."

What came out wasn't human at all. It was a fox, a white fox. It's kind of strange to find such a creature especially here. "Who are you," A voice says, "P-please don't hurt me!"

The three of us jumped and looked around for the source. The source was, strangely, from the fox itself. "What the hell," Saika says as he lowers his guard.

"A-are you hearing this, too," Naika asks a little wierded out.

I nod at the same time Saika does as we approach it. The fox seems to be apprehensive but it approaches us and says, "Sorry for looking strange, I'm Yomu."

"Yomu?" Naika asks, "Strange name for a white fox."

"Seems so," Yomu says, "Now what are your names? It's a little rude to not introduce yourselves."

I told the fox our names and it seems Yomu nods as though mentally reinforcing his memories. "So...Enba...Naika...Saika," Yomu voices out, "Wow two of your names rhyme. Are you two twins or something?"

"N-not really," Saika says, "We just happen to have rhyming names."

"I see," Yomu says, "What brings you all to this world?"

"We kinda fell in," I say to him, "We heard of a strange ritual. So, we tried it out and fell into a mirror."

"A mirror, huh," Yomu says as he sits letting his long tail swish back and fourth, "Well it seems you are in quite the predicament."

"Well we were curious about it," Naika points out, "We heard of various incidents involving the said ritual."

"I'm well aware of that," Yomu says as he circles us as though sizing us up, "I've sensed various humans appearing in this world. Apparently this...ritual has caught the attention of you people."

"Well we're here to explore a little," I say looking around, "Is there an exit?"

"I'll open it for you, Enba-san," Yomu says, "But now I'll be your guide to a recent place."

"Recent?" Saika says, "Oh I did hear of someone dying."

"Oh..." Naika says, "I think I knew the kid...We were good friends during grade school but we drew apart."

"What was his name?" I say.

"Makoto Inoue," Naika says, "Crazy kid, but he was cool with me. He's the kind of guy that would seek out anything like some western mystery show protagonist. From simple rumors to supposedly haunted houses, he'd uncover them all out without a moment's hesitation."

"He's that kinda guy," I say to him. This earns a nod from my cousin as she sighs. She was silent for a moment until she says, "Take us to him..."

"Okay, then," Yomu says as he takes us to a door at one side of the room, "Alright, but the area is too dark for you all."

"How are we going to see, then," I ask.

"I'm getting to that," Yomu says as he looks into my eyes, "This'll help you see." His eyes flash a little and I see things brighten.

"Wha...?" I say as I look around and I see more things in the area beyond, "Whoa...This is cool."

"What happened," Naika says nervously casting side glances at the fox before me.

"I can see clearly now," I say as I look around, "it's as though someone turned on the lights in this room."

"Now, I only have the capacity to do one person's eyes, unfortunately," Yomu says as he opens a window behind us, "Enba-san, please come with me."

"Okay I'll just leave since you insist. This place seems dangerous even for me," Saika says as he turns towards the door, "See ya!"

"Wait just a minute!" Naika yells as she grabs Saika by the collar, "We got to see what happened to Inoue-kun!"

Saika yields to my cousin's shouting as Yomu looks on in passive amusement. "I guess there's no stopping this, then," The fox says, "Follow me."

We walk into a door that leads into a dark hallway. As I step in first since I could see I hear Yomu warn me, "W-wait! I must warn you that there are Shadows wandering this area."

"Shadows?" I say as I take another step in, "What do you mean by-"

All of a sudden, a large blob of some inky black stuff glares at me with red "eyes".

"That's one!" Yomu shouts as the shadow began to slither to us. Yomu suddenly picks up something with his mouth and throws it to me and says, "Catch!"

It turns out to be a metal pole. The pole is long enough to be a sort of staff. With no time to lose, I swipe at the monster with all my might. The hit connected as it seemed to back off. Yomu signaled us to leave now as we ran out of the hall.

"What exactly was that," Naika asks Yomu who just shut the door. The fox checks the door before turning around to face us.

"A Shadow," He says, "They have been running rampant in this place for as long as I could remember. They ahve been causing so much trouble since people are being pulled in."

"Pulled in?" Saika asks, "Like how En-chan was pulled in?"

"Yep," Yomu says, "This world has been acting wierd due to some people being pulled in. So, now you guys better get back to where you came from now." As he spoke, he nudged us back to the window despite my cousin's silent protests.

**[Naika's Room, Second Floor 1:01 AM June 8th]**

When we were pushed back through, we ended up back in Naika's room. We were silent for a moment but we had a simultaneous sigh of relief that we're home. Looking at the clock, it looks really late now I can sense that Saika is grimacing for some reason. "Well now," Naika says, "We gotta head for bed, the caretaker wont let us hear the end of it since he's been a little high-strung these days."

"This a regular occurrence," I ask.

"Unfortunately, yes," Saika says as he stands up, "The smallest change in things he has to manage becomes a big deal to him. Your arrival might've caused a bit of a stir in his mind."

"Well, in any case, we should head for bed," Naika points out, "Let's forget this all happened."

We all had a collective nod as me and Saika headed for our respective rooms. I was kind of surprised that Saika has been in the same building, in fact he's upstairs. I guess he wakes up early to train or something, based off of my assumptions of many star athletes seen in schools. Oh well, I should head to bed...Another day of classes is coming up...


	4. Chapter 4: Persona

Fuyu: Yes I will be doing class segments as you will see.

**Chapter 4: Persona**

**[June 8th 8:25 AM, ****Sakakuta Academy Building 3A Class 2-C****]**

The next day after that time in the events in the mirror world. In class it seems like it weighs heavy on the minds of my friends as they are constantly spacing out. The class today is a chemistry teacher by the name of Ito Koura. While always calm and forgiving he does seem to take his students seriously. He stops in the middle of his lecture about atoms to ask a question. I knew it was me since he is already looking right at me as he says, "Now for our transfer student to answer this. Enba-chan." I stand up out of my seat as he continues, "Which of these element category are highly reactive in nature?"

(Choices are:  
\- Noble Gases

Alkali Metals

\- Halogens)

"Alkali metals," I answer feeling it's correct.

"Correct," Mr Koura says with a gentle smile, "Alkali metals like Sodium, potasium and lithium are extremely reactive elements. Drop them in water and they'll violently react which is why special storage is needed for these. They'll also change the acidity of the water itself which means it's quite dangerous to the environment..."

I feel more confident from giving the right answer to the question.

**[9:25 AM]**

As classes stop for morning break, Naika and Saika beckon me to join them as I take out a bento box that Naika gave me and sat down with them. I agree and sat with them Saika is apparently unpacking his lunch which he got from the store while my cousin had just opened her bento. Just as I sat down, I could sense determination in Naika's voice as she says after some time, "hey.."

"Something wrong," I ask her.

"I wanna head into the mirror again," She says which leaves us silent.

I almost dropped my chopsticks at this and Saika dropped a melon bread he was going to eat which was centimeters from his mouth as he says, "Are you crazy? With those Shadow things there, who knows what's gonna happen."

"There's gotta be a chance I'll find some reason how he died," Naika says, her voice low, "We gotta go in again."

"Nuh-uh, count me out of your crazy plans, Nai-chi," Saika says crossing his arms forming an "X", "Especially since we almost died. You're with me on this, right, En-chan?"

"Um..." I stammer for a little bit as I feel pretty courageous, "I'm kind of curious as well. Besides, I have the eyes needed for that world."

"Can't that fox give you those eyes," Saika asks, "Then she'd see and she wont have to worry, right?"

"How will she protect herself," I say to him jabbing my chopsticks at him to make a point, "We got those monsters wandering around there."

"Oh! You're right," Naika says, "Oh, wait, I know a guy who sells weapons his shop near the mall."

"Can you call him," I say to her picking up a sushi roll.

"Yeah, sure. I think he can sell us stuff," Naika wonders.

"Are you serious!?" Saika almost yells but quiets down, "Is that even remotely legal?"

"He says he has connections to cover for him," Naika adds on, "Plus, he also could deliver pretty quickly if we can t walk there."

"I guess we have no choice but to check this place out after school," I say as I pick at what i have left before closing the box.

"Leave me out of this," Saika sighs, "I'm trying to push whatever happened out of my mind and you two are making it hard."

"Fine then, it's just the two of us," Naika insists.

"Can you even fight," I ask as I feel more obligated to help her.

"I can handle a crossbow pretty well," Naika says twirling her chopsticks, "I'm not very accurate, though."

"I guess it's settled," I say, "There's no stopping her." Naika nods energetically as she finishes her packed lunch just as the bell rings.

Afternoon classes went by fast and we were soon released. As promised, me and Naika headed for the shop. Saika parted ways with us to head back to the apartment since he said he won't join us. I decide to leave him be...

**[Market Ave 2:37 PM]**

When we arrive at the shop, it looks more or less like an antique shop on the outside. Before I ask, Naika walks in as the shop owner says a greeting.

"Afternoon, Naika-san," The man says.

"Hello, sir," She says back with a smile, "Can I ask you for my crossbow?"

"Well, I'm not gonna ask why since it's been yours in the first place," The store owner says, "Need something for your friend, there?"

"Not really," Naika says, "I just need my crossbow and some bolts."

"I see," The store owner says as he takes a crossbow off the shelves and fills a quiver full of bolts, and turned around to hand my cousin the crossbow and quiver, "Here you go."

"Thanks, sir," Naika says as she smiles.

"Be careful out there," the shop owner says as we walk away.

Before I ask about how she could conceal it, she loosens the tension on the crossbow's mechanism and actually folds it up. I find myself surprised how well it's stored as she simply places it into her bag. Once that was done, we then headed out to our apartment.

**[Apartment complex, Naika's Room 3:01 PM]**

I see that Naika left the mirror where it was since last night. I'm still unsure about this but I wait for what she has to say. "Okay, we're only there to see what's there," Naika says, "We might find some clues about what happened to him."

She seems extremely serious about this. All I could do is sigh and let this be since, again, nothing could stop her. I had to check the mirror to see if we could enter. By tapping it, all reflections disappeared for a bit but it felt like touching water. With that, I stepped in first with my cousin following behind me. Sure enough, we were on the same strange platform as before.

**[Hub Platform, Mirror World. 3:02 PM]**

Yomu was there as though waiting for us. "Huh," Yomu voices out, "You're here again. Were you pulled in like last time?"

"Not really," I say.

"Wait...what do you mean pulled in," Naika asks, "You mean last night?"

"Yes, it happens to be how many people entered here at first," Yomu says with a strange purr in his voice, "Which raises the question...Who would that be...?"

My cousin and I look at each other as though wondering what's wrong with him. "A-anyways," Naika finally says after a moment of awkward silence, "I came here to investigate the person that fell in here."

"Oh, that Mokoto person," Yomu says, "I was just thinking of taking a look there myself. Now that you're here, how about we go together?"

"There better not be any of those monsters," Naika says acting dead serious, "You hear me?"

"Understood, but I cant promise anything," Yomu says as he does an action that we could discern as a shrug which looked wierd for a fox to do, "I almost forgot that you dont have te eyes either, Naika-san. Look into my eyes."

Naika obliged and soon, her eyes lit up in an orange color, "Wh-whoa!"

"How is it," I ask while not pointing out her eyes.

"It's so much brighter here! I can see that about-" She stops upon seeing my eyes, "Huh!? Your eyes are glowing!"

I tilt my head and look over to Yomu as though, "What's going on?"

"Oh, about that...I never looked into this myself but..." Yomu begins, "Your eyes seem to glow when I give you the sight. Yours are red, by the way, Enba-san."

"How is that possible," Naika asks.

"Again, I cant say for sure," Yomu says with another strange looking shrug, "But you'll like what you could see with these eyes."

We both seem doubtful but we went along with it as I pick up my pole which Yomu seems to have left for me. Naika pulls out her crossbow and loads one bolt and nods at me and we walk to the door. Without another word, we headed through the door where that leads to where Naika's friend is.

**[Strange hallway]**

Upon entering, we could see that the hall wasn't that long but the look of it all was strange. Strange papers marked "research" and "Possilbe lead" are scattered amongst the walls. Naika seems apprehensive as though she knows of this already but is unsettled at this. Suddenly, the hall, in fact isnt something we could simply walk through. Case in point was then I almost ran into something on the floor my eyes revealed, "What the?"

"Oh," Yomu says with a slight snicker, "I almost forgot that there are things you should watch out for, thankfully your eyes could see it at a certain distance, though."

"Should've told us about it sooner!" Naika almost yells, "Just what is it anyways?"

"I guess it's a trap of sorts," Yomu says as he nimbly jumps over it, "Come on."

"You're expecting us to jump over it," Naika asks as I already begin to jump, "You too?"

"Sorry," I say showing some concern as I jump over the trap narrowly avoiding activating it. Naika tries but nearly trips...And triggers the trap.

"Well now, looks like we got a fight on our hands," Yomu says too casually.

"How can you be so calm!" Naika says as Shadows drop from above landing in front of us. They begin as blobs but they jump up to form weird eyeballs. Naika musters up some courage and fires one bolt. It looked like it hit but there was no effect, which seemed to anger them as they advanced on us. As they charged, I stand in front of my cousin raise my arm and as though I'm reaching out to them without realizing it. I look and see a strange bracelet wrapped around my wrist, hanging from it was a small pendant with a mask on one side. The creatures stopped as though observing it, it was then, it glowed while a strange voice says, "I am Thou, Thou Art I...From Thine Heart, say the word."

I feel hesitant at first but then..."P-Per...sona..." I splay my fingers outward and a burst of energy came fourth and took form. It was dressed in a black and white cloak with red trimmings. A red mask was on it as it also seemed to have a hood and a long sword slung over his back. I suddenly hear his name ring in my ears and I say it out loud, "Okuninushi..."

One of the creatures made a charge but I whacked it with my staff destroying it. Okuninushi disappeared and more were coming so I had to summon him again as I re-did the gesture from before as I shouted, "Persona!"

Okuninushi came out like last time as I commanded him to use a physical attack. He drew his sword and did one quick slash that killed another 'Shadow'.

"Use your eyes," I hear Yomu shout to me. I nod as I looked straight at the monster. I could see hints of something that could effect it but I don't know what. So I tried a fire attack as I shouted for my Persona again after summoning it. My Persona shot flame from his hands and it seems to have burned it to a crisp. The battle is over and I look to my persona which turned into a card and disappeared into my heart.

"Wow," I hear Naika say as I glance at my bracelet. She ran to me as she says, "That was awesome! I have no idea what that was but it was awesome! What did you call it? 'Persona' was it?"

"Oujou..." I suddenly hear Yomu say as he walks up to me as well and even bows, "That was incredible! I never knew your power was like that!"

"Wait...'Oujou'?" Naika says, "The hell? What are you some servant?"

"I never knew she had power like that, Yomu says acting in a way we both never expected, "I'm just treating her with respect."

"Anyways," Naika says with an exasperated sigh, "We'll talk about it later, we got to see my friend."

"Right, then," Yomu says, "We're not far from the door..." We all walked to the door but I begin to have a bad feeling crawl up my spine.


	5. Chapter 5: Facade

Fuyu: From this chapter onward, I shall mark when and where the scenes are in each chapter. I'll think about the previous chapters as well.

Chapter 5: Naika's Facade

**[Mirror world, strange room – Time unknown]**

The door looked normal but once it was opened a voice rang out, "Why can't they accept me? Why..." Naika seemed to recognize it as she says, "Makoto-kun?"

"No one will accept me for who I am..." The voice says, "All they see of me is what I do and call me the Supernatural Expert no one came to talk to me about who I am..." At that moment, a shadow appeared much different from the first three. The shadow looks more like some strange ghost-like thing.

Naika's eyes widen, "That was a drawing he made...It was reason why he liked the supernatural in the first place."

The Shadow spotted us and began to attack. I quickly summoned my Persona to strike at it but it missed. Thankfully the shadow relented for a moment and began to maneuver to a different position. I began to use my eyes to try and see what might affect it.

"Good use of your eyes, Oujou-sama," Yomu says as he is also looking at the Shadow as well, "I can see what you're seeing now." He's beginning to sound more supportive of me as the Shadow began another attack. I narrowly blocked the physical attack and pushed it off me after summoning Okuninushi to burn it. The hit was successful as it burnt to ashes. It was then I noticed Naika staring at another shadow next to her. Makoto's voice could be heard, "Nai-chan...She was strong and even got into fights..."

No shadow came but suddenly Naika's voice is heard, "I was fighting to protect him...But people misunderstood..."

The Shadow began to take shape as Naika backed off. The shadow took the shape of a distorted version of her, a more vicious mockery of her image. Naika was in shock but didn't have a word to say...was it acceptance? At any rate, I must protect her. I run up and swipe at the fake image as I listen to the real her, "This is how people saw me. I guess it is true..."

The shadow grew more distorted as an eerie smile appeared on its face. The fake copy summoned what looked like a kendo sword and swung at me. As we fought, I heard her voice again, "Everyone annoys me! That's why I fight!"

I immediately knew something was wrong, Naika wouldn't act like this but she seems to be accepting this. I got my answer as her real self says, "No one will understand so I just gave up denying it...All I knew what to do is fight!"

I summon Okuninushi again to slice at the shadow, which my Persona succeeded in hitting, but it stays standing. While I use my eyes to take a look at what might effect it, I began to see something change as she says, "En-chan...This...This is me...I fought because I thought it was right and even became feared...all due to protected a ghost fanatic..."

Another Shadow took form showing what looks like a kind of warrior but combined with the one before. A piece of a shadow coming from what I assume was from the ghost-like one. The shadow changed shape and became something of twisted form of a warrior but somehow had the vibe of some gangster by seeing the peculiar weapon it has. I quickly summoned Okuninushi to attack it as Yomu says, "Watch it! I can see that shadow is not like the others we fought in more ways than one."

"I can see that!" I yell back as I summon Okuninushi to burn it. The attack did more damage than I expected, in fact it knocked it down.

"Good going, Oujou-sama," Yomu cheers.

"Why..." Naika eventually says, "Can't you accept what I am?"

I gritted my teeth at how she's acting as the shadow was about to recover. Summoning Okuninushi again was quick as I commanded him to slash the shadow before turning around to slap my cousin across the face with the back of my hand. She was surprised when I smacked her that she was in shock. I thought of leaving her like that but as her cousin I couldn't leave it at that as I shouted, "Snap out of it! You're only lying to yourself, you should know that you are much better than that thing!"

The Shadow let out a cry as it stood up and began to attack with its weapon drawn. I saw it was going after my cousin. I barely took most of the impact as I tried to protect Naika. The impact was so much that I was thrown back onto my cousin as she calls out to me, "En-chan!"

"You okay," I ask as I get off of her.

"I'm okay," Naika says rubbing the cheek I slapped, "That slap set my mind straight..." She stands up as the Shadow relented, "This thing...I only accepted it because everyone marked me as such." As Naika walked foreword, I kept the Shadow at bay with my Persona as she continues, "I was stupid to accept this fake side of me. Now...I reject it since I am me and that thing is not." The Shadow screeched as it began to become angry and unfocused leaving it wide open for attack.

"Oujou-sama! Now," Yomu yelled which I saw that said opening.

"Okuninushi!" I yell and summon him and struck at the enemy with repeated fire blasts. The Shadow fell and dissolved into the air but reformed into something else. The being manifested looked like an old gang member in a combat yukata with some added armor with a peculiar design holding dual fighting sticks wearing a warrior mask. "Seitan-Taisei..." She murmured as it turns into a card and disappeared into her heart and a similar bracelet to mine but with a different arcana symbol appears on her wrist and she sighs in relief, "So…This is...Persona, is it?"

"Yep," I say with a smile, "Sorry I had to slap you in the face, though."

"It's okay," Naika says with her own usual smile, "I needed that to set my mind straight." She sighs again as she says, "I feel a lot lighter now, thanks to you."

"It's no problem," I say.

Yomu cuts in as he says, "Anyways, I hear nothing else here so we should go back, you two must be tired." Now that he mentions it, I really do feel a little tired.

Naika is a little better off than me but I can see she's starting to feel sleepy, "You're right, let's go..." She punctuates her sentence with a yawn as we began to walk to the main platform.

**[Real world, Naika's Apartment 11:28 PM] **

As we walked, Naika had to lean on me for support since she is already spent. I smile as I let her have my shoulder since this whole thing put her through a lot. We eventually leave and say our farewells to Yomu after he says that he'll wait for us when we need to come back. Upon arriving back in our world, we encounter a familiar face.

"Oh, Sai-kun," Naika says, casually, "Hello."

"What the hell happened to you two," He asks noticing how tired we look.

"If we told you might not believe us without seeing it first," I say with a slight smile.

Saika looked at both of us in confusion as he scratches his head and eventually says, "Alright, I'll take your word for it. Well, I'll be in my room downstairs if you two need me."

"Don't worry about us," Naika says, "just head to your room."

"I'll head to my room, Nai-chan," I say with a smile after Saika leaves, "You should head to bed."

"Right..." She yawns deeply and continues talking afterward, "We should go to sleep. It's been a hell of an evening...Goodnight..."

"Goodnight," I say with a smile as I leave for my room. Upon entering my room, I immediately change clothes to my sleepwear and pass out as soon as I tuck myself in on the bed.

**[Velvet Room]**

I look around and see the familiar blue velvet of the Velvet Room. Across from me is Igor and Isabella. "Welcome to the Velvet Room," Igor says with the same strange smile he has, "Do not be alarmed, you are still fast asleep in the real world. Ah... and I see that you have awakened to your power and Okuninushi has heeded your call. Very interesting...The power of persona is like a mask, a facade - if you will - as you overcome life's hardships."

"I see," I respond.

"Your power is that of the Wildcard," Igor continues, "You have the ability of holding multiple Personas and social links will infuse them with power."

"Social links," I ask.

"As you form bonds, your Social Links can grow in power," Isabella says, "Thus granting the ability to create more powerful Personas."

"I understand, then," I then say.

"Then hold onto this," Igor says as a blue key floated down into my hands, "This key shows that you a guest in the Velvet Room. The next time, you'll come here of your own free will." As I nod, he continues, "I can't keep you here any longer. I shall see you again."


	6. Chapter 6: Investigaitons

Fuyu: One social Link established and now for more class stuff. I am still not sure how the Japanese school schedules go so bear with me.

Chapter 6: Investigating

[June 9th 8:00 AM, Sakakuta Academy courtyard, outside building A3]

I managed to get up earlier than everyone else so I had to walk to school alone. I carry my bag in my left hand to glance at my bracelet as I walk into the school. It looks like a charm bracelet with a symbol that represents something inspiring but I know the power behind this thing. As Idrop my hand to look foreward, Look to see Naika running to catch up to me. "Hey, En-chan, you're up early," She says running up with a smile as I stop to talk to her.

Glad to see she looks alright I ask her to be sure, "How're you feeling?"

"Great, actually," She says with a smile, "I feel so much better now since I rejected my outer self. I don't feel like that side is a part of me anymore." Her smile quickly switched to a more serious face as she says, "But that world...What kind of force could be pulling them in?"

"Well whatever it is," I say, "we gotta stop it."

"You're right," Naika nods, "I guess the only place to start is in that world since people are being pulled in by the same force you were pulled in." She looks me straight in the eyes and says, "Since this isnt really murder, we should look into this ourselves. If another hallway opens up then we gotta save whoever's in there."

"Right," I say with a nod as I smile. I feel our mutual resolve to investigate this phenomena before it causes more damage. I begin to feel a bond form between me and her. As I did feel the bond a voice rings in my head:

"Thou art I, and I am Thou. Thou hast established the social link of the Magician Arcana..."

So that's what Igor was talking about the power of Social Links. I guess I am meaning something to her than just being her cousin. I check the time and see it's almost time until the bell rings. Naika sees it as well so we both run in and head to our classroom.

[Building A3 Class 2-C 8:30 AM]

We barely made it into class and headed into our seats just before the teacher arrived. The teacher today is Ms. Amekawa, a psychology teacher. She looks quite young for her age and seems pretty intelligent. As she begins teaching, I begin to notice that she is a pretty patient teacher but has no tolerance for slackers. Her lecture seems to focus on Sigmund Freud, a few other pioneers of psychology and even the branches of the study. She makes sure it's easy to understand by spelling out vocabulary terms in our textbooks.

I stayed awake during the lecture as I took notes. I begin to feel a bit more attentive. Class ends and lunch break begins.

[Classroom Hallway 9:30 AM]

I forgot to bring my lunch so I began to head to the school store for some pastries and juice. I don't really think I'll run into anyone so I simply headed there quickly. The store looked pretty crowded, the fact being I am a little early. Instead of waiting, I began to head to the crowd just before the good stuff sells out. I manage to get one of the last Yakisoba Breads and some juice with it. I had to wade my way back out of the crowd and headed to my classroom. It was a risk but I took it which made me feel really brave. Both Naika and Saika saw the whole thing and were both surprised I made it out of that.

"Never thought you survived that," Naika says, "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," I respond and shows the pastry I managed to get, "Check out what I got."

"Seriously!?" Saika says, "How did you get to that!? It's near imposssible."

"I simply pushed through," I simply say feeling a bit more confident in my self.

"You're one tough girl," Naika says with a smile as we head to our class room to eat our lunch together.

[Class 2-C 9:40 AM]

We had just finished eating simply talked to pass some time with small talk until Suita suddenly asks, "By the way, about yesterday, what the heck happened?"

We both look at each other then back at Saika, "Since you seen the world we might as well tell you." With that, we took the better part of the last few minutes of lunch taking turns explaining what happened. Saika simply listened in content as though putting the pieces together.

"So..." Saika says, "Lemme get this straight, you saw how people saw you? That's rough...But to be honest, I am curious to see as well."

"I really urge you that you shouldn't..." Naika warns him, "I'm not sure if you can take it..."

"I'm a captain of the Judo Team," Saika says, "I think I could take it."

I could see that Naika is biting her lip but then says, "Well whatever happens we'll be there when it happens."

"Alright," Saika says, "I wonder what this 'Persona' power is like."

"Just dont do anything too risky," Naika says as the bell rings for afternoon classes. No other words were said as we headed for our seats.

[Courtyard 2:30 PM]

As classes ended, we began walking out when I bumped into someone almost falling over. The person in question happens to be a guy. He is wearing our school's uniform but it's all messy and lightly decorated with a few punk chains but he sure looks like a senior despite that. He gives a quick glare directed my way before walking off.

"What's his problem," Saika wonders as soon as it seems they are out of earshot.

"I don't know," Naika says, "But he sure was scary...You okay, En-chan?"

"I think so," I nervously say as I straighten myself. At any rate, we headed home since we don't have much to do for now.

[Apartment Lobby 3:00 PM]

We walked in and saw someone up front, a young woman likely to be in her twenties. Both of my companions recognized the person.

"Oh, Kimi-san," Saika says with a smile and a slight bow, "How's everhything?"

"O-oh hello, Aisano-san... well the usual's happening," Kimi says, "So many things to manage." She sees me and says with a smile, "Oh, you must be the new resident - Kaindo-san, right? Are you getting used to things around here?"

"Yes, Ma'am," I say to her with a nod feeling kinder, "Nice to finally meet you."

"My, so polite," Kimi says, "Let me introduce myself, I'm Kimi Midoriko. I'm the manager of this complex."

Oh so this is the manager they mentioned. She doesnt seem as high-strung as they let on. Suddenly, a phone rings as she yelps and then says, "Oh dear...Well see you all later, I-I gotta take this call."

"Yep, she's as busy as always," Naika says with a sigh, "Come on, we gotta get to our rooms."

We all agreed as we headed to our rooms.

[My Room 3:10 PM]

As I walked into my room, I sensed as though something was off so I headed for Naika's room. When Naika opened the door, she seemed to ahd been in the middle of watching TV confirmed by the sounds of a celebrity talk show going on.

"Oh, En-chan," She says, "What's up?"

"Sorry for this being so sudden," I say with a smile.

"Don't worry about it," She says, "I'm always willing to talk to you. Come on in." I smile as I walk in while she continues, "So, what's it you wanna talk about?"

"Just confirming things," I say, "Let's head for the Mirror world."

"Alright," Naika says as we head into the vanity mirror she left in her room.

[Mirror World]

As we arrived, we saw that Yomu had just come back from somewhere. As he saw us, the fox walked over to us, "Oh hello, Oujou-sama."

"Hello there," I say.

"You're already used to being called that?" Naika interjects.

I nod to her but then I ask Yomu, "Where'd you come out from?"

"A new door opened up so I decided to take a look," Yomu saw as he sits the door he mentioned is a plain white door with a simple knob, "Before you ask, no one is there. Strange, huh?"

"Huh? You sure no one is there," Naika asks.

"Yep, I checked many times," Yomu says, "I guess my own suspicions are wrong."

"You suspected something as well," Naika asks.

"Seems like we're on the same wavelength," The fox nods as he speaks, "Well it seems that places take form in preparation of someone."

"Preparation?" Naika asks, "What kind of thing would prepare for someone?"

"Who knows," Yomu says dissmissively, "I've just gotten to know this world's ins and outs."

"Seriously," Naika says feeling a little let down, "I assumed you knew the kind of force that pulls people in."

"Why would I know that if I asked you to help me," Yomu asks.

"Oh, right," Naika responds simply.

"No offence but you're not really smart are you," Yomu wonders.

"N-none taken..." Naika says feeling wounded.

"I guess we'll check back when something happens," I say to him to which he nods.

"If anything comes up," Yomu adds, "I'll have to come out and tell you."

"You could get out," Naika asks, "Really?"

"Um, yeah," Yomu says with what looks like a smile, "I can leave at will and I've seen more and more of your world with every time i visit."

"Isn't it odd for a talking fox to walk around," Naika asks.

"I have a different form that helps me blend in with you humans," Yomu says, "You'll know when you see it."

"Okay..." I say as me and my cousin turns towards the window, "Well I guess we're done here."

"I'll be seeing you on the other side when the time comes," Yomu says as we both leave.

[Naika's room 4:09 PM]

As we step out of the mirror, Naika already has a plan as she says, "If that Fox comes out, then something happened, right?"

"Yeah," I say, "Then we should get ready to save him when he tells us."

"I think I still only have your e-mail," Naika wonders, "But I changed mine. Um... let me just set up the infrared."

"Okay," I say as we both pull out our phones and exchanged contact info.

"Alright, then," She says casually, "How about we go and check the mall?"

"Why so sudden," I ask a little taken off guard.

Naika smiles brightly, "I haven't shown you around and it'd be best to show you the other stores. Some might even be useful for us in the Mirror World."

"Sure," I say to her, "let's go!"

"Awesome," Naika says as we leave the apartment to spend the rest of the day. The rest of the dayw as spent checking out stores in the local mall, so named Moonlight Mall. While there, we actually found two stores that might be useful, a pharmacy and an accessory store. As we spent time together I began to feel a lot closer to her.

* * *

Now to post our MC's stats so far.

Stats: (points are all 1/25 Milestones at every 5)

Kindness: 1.9 Lacking

Academics: 2.1 Basic

Confidence: 0.9 Shy

Bravery: 1.8 Cowardly

Dliligence: 0 Lazy


End file.
